I'm just kind of lazy and messed up and self-managed - self-mismanaged.

Dan Bejar

Categorized in : Self Kind Lazy

I always start with the lyrics, because starting with the music means the words will be bad.

People say I write specifically about nothing in particular. I don't know about the latter part, but I think the first part is really important in conjuring up a voice that works, or at least the illusion of a voice at work.

voice writing thinking

Kaputt was just a record that did really well for us, and therefore our record label and our booking agent said that we should go out and take our message to the world.

agents records labels

I can't fool myself into thinking that musically I don't need other people, whether it's as a foil or just to come in and make real the ideas that are kind of vague and wispy in my head.

real ideas thinking

I'm not really sure that I have the same definition of things as other people. Like, when people talk about being "engaged" with the audience, I'm not exactly sure what they mean.

definitions mean people

I don't banter with the audience, cause I don't have anything to say to them, and I'm not feeling any sense of ease or camaraderie when I'm on stage.

causes ease feelings

I like putting common expressions next to uncommon expressions. I'm sure in Poetry 101 there is a name for it, but it seems like you usually go one way or the other in rock music.

rocks expression names

Big, evocative words get thrown around, and people can sing along to passionately as if the lyrics just materialized out of the ether, largely because they don't ever seem to coalesce into a writerly voice.

bigs voice people

It's actually really stereotypical that someone should be 40 and mellow out, but I think it's more about trying to conjure up a different intensity in my head, one where I'm more focused as a singer and hands-on with music and more exacting, and less trying to furiously fit a thousands thoughts into a four minute song.

song trying thinking

I like playing music. I don't always like the feeling of people looking at me. I don't think I'm a natural performer, but I'm getting better.

feelings people thinking

Moments of unexpected sweetness happen when romance enters, which always happens in songs - if just for a split second.

splits romance song

I'm not that conscious of my writing, so pacing the lyrics doesn't really enter the picture.

pacing conscious writing

Most musicians don't write about being a musician cause most musicians aren't writers.

musician causes writing

Really good musicians don't think of "self-reflection."

reflection self thinking

I think the more removed I feel, the more I warm up to the role of singer.

singers roles thinking

I used to struggle a little bit with the idea of how to separate singing from acting and entertaining.

singing struggle ideas

The more I abandon ideas of myself as a musician, the better a singer I become.

singers musician ideas

Once you feel like you can safely quit a melody, you are free to explore more important things.

quitting like-you important

Of course, no lyrics are ever unintentional, but I think bands like Wolf Parade and the Arcade Fire have a tendency to touch on big themes without really following through on them or tying them in to a particular logic.

band fire thinking

Part of me likes words as music sabotage, and part of me wonders why anyone would waste their time liking anything to do with sabotage.

waste likes wonder